Press apparatus for vehicle

ABSTRACT

A press apparatus includes a lower die cam base slidably disposed inside of a lower die, and having a lower die pad connected to a upper portion of the lower die cam base; an upper die pad mounted under an upper die through a cushion spring at a position corresponding to the lower die pad; and an upper die cam slide having a cam slide surface formed at a lower portion, a cam surface formed at an upper portion, and a cam steel mounted to the upper die cam slide.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) priority to and thebenefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0167827 filed in theKorean Intellectual Property Office on Dec. 30, 2013, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a press apparatus, more particularly,to a press apparatus which may prevent wrinkles from forming on a flangesurface of a panel.

(b) Description of the Related Art

Generally, a vehicle is manufactured by numerous assembling processesusing about 20,000 to 30,000 parts.

In particular, a vehicle body is formed by a first assembling processsuch that vehicle body panels are produced in a press process, and eachpart of the vehicle body is then assembled in a vehicle body factory toform a vehicle body of a body-in-white (BIW) state.

In order to form the panels, as described above, a forming process isperformed for press forming the panels in a predetermined shape withvarious presses, and then cutting, hole forming, curving, and bendingare performed in press processes, such as trimming, piercing, flanging,and hemming.

In a press forming process, a flange of a panel is under processedconsidering elastic restoring. In particular, “Spring Back” occurs whena flat-rolled metal or alloy is cold-worked; upon release of the formingforce, the material has a tendency to partially return to its originalshape because of the elastic recovery of the material. This is called“Spring Back” and influenced not only by the tensile and yieldstrengths, but also by thickness, bend radius and bend angle.

Recently, to enhance the appearance of a vehicle, bent shapes areapplied to a vehicle body. Particularly, for applying a panorama sunroofto the vehicle, forming depth may be required to be increased.

However, for applying deep forming depth to the vehicle body, two stepsof forming processes, for example, a vertical direction flange formingprocess and a horizontal direction flange forming process, are requiredin the conventional art, and thus productivity may be deteriorated, andmanufacturing cost may be increased.

Also, in cam forming process, tensile press forming may not be appliedto the panel, and thus compress press forming may be applied. As aresult, wrinkles may be formed on a flange surface contributing to aninferior appearance, and thus increasing an inferiority rate.

Due to such wrinkles, welding quality may be deteriorated, and elementsmay not be easily mounted to the vehicle body. The above informationdisclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement ofunderstanding of the background of the invention and therefore it maycontain information that does not form the prior art that is alreadyknown in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

SUMMARY

The present invention discloses a press apparatus having advantages ofpreventing wrinkles from forming on a panel of a vehicle body byimplementing tensile press forming to the panel with deep depth formingsuch as a roof side panel.

The present invention provides a press apparatus having advantages ofimproving productivity and reducing an inferiority rate.

A press apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may include a lower die cam base slidably disposed inside of alower die, and having a lower die pad connected to a upper portionthereof, an upper die pad mounted under an upper die through a cushionspring at a position corresponding to the lower die pad, and an upperdie cam slide having a cam slide surface formed at a lower portionthereof, a cam surface formed at an upper portion thereof, and a camsteel mounted thereto. The press apparatus may further include a holdingunit mounted to the lower die cam base and the upper die cam slide forholding a flange surface of a panel during press forming.

The holding unit may include a lower holding pad mounted to the lowerdie cam base for holding an inner portion of the flange surface of thepanel, and an upper holding pad mounted to the upper die cam slide forholding an outer portion of the flange surface of the panelcorresponding to the lower holding pad.

The lower holding pad and the upper holding pad may be mounted to thelower die cam base and the upper die cam slide, respectively,interposing a pad cushion spring between the lower holding pad and thelower die cam base, and between the upper holding pad and the upper diecam slide for supplying elastic force to the lower holding pad and theupper holding pad, respectively.

The holding unit may hold the flange surface during the press forming ofthe panel for the panel to be stretched formed.

The press apparatus may include a connecting block contacting the lowerdie cam base and slidable within the lower die and a lower die drivermounted under the upper die, and the lower die driver pushing the lowerdie cam base through the connecting block when the upper die moves down.

A driving surface may be formed to the lower die driver for pushing theconnecting block.

A contacting surface may be formed to the connecting block contactingthe driving surface of the lower die driver.

The press apparatus may further include wear plates interposed betweenthe lower die and the connecting block and between the lower die and thelower die cam base respectively.

The lower die driver may push the lower die cam base through theconnecting block to move the lower die cam base toward the upper die camslide when the upper die moves down.

The press apparatus may further include a cam guide block formed apartfrom the lower die cam base and having a cam guide surface that slantstoward the lower die cam base, and a cam driver having a cam drivingsurface that slants in an opposite direction of the cam guide surfaceand mounted under the upper die.

An insert portion may be formed to the lower die cam base, and the camsteel may be inserted into the insert portion for a panel to bestretched formed in press forming.

A press apparatus for press forming a panel inserted into an upper dieand a lower die according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may include a lower die cam base slidably disposed inside of alower die and having a forming shape corresponding to a lower surface ofa lower portion of the panel, a connecting block contacting the lowerdie cam base and slidably disposed within the lower die, a lower die padconnecting upper portions of the lower die cam base and the connectingblock and having a forming shape corresponding to a lower surface of anupper portion of the panel, a lower die driver mounted under the upperdie to selectively push the lower die cam base through the connectingblock, an upper die pad mounted under the upper die through a cushionspring at a position corresponding to the lower die pad and having aforming shape corresponding to an upper surface of an upper portion ofthe panel, a cam guide block formed to the lower die apart from thelower die cam base and having a cam guide surface that slants to thelower die cam base, an upper die cam slide having a cam slide surfacecorresponding to the cam guide surface of the cam guide block, of whicha cam surface slant opposite direction of the cam slide surface, and theupper die cam slide having a cam steel mounted toward the lower die cambase thereto, a cam driver mounted under the upper die, and having a camdriving surface corresponding to the cam surface of the upper die camslide, and a holding unit mounted to the lower die cam base and theupper die cam slide for holding a flange surface of the panel duringpress forming.

The holding unit may include a lower holding pad mounted to the lowerdie cam base for holding an inner portion of the flange surface of thepanel, and an upper holding pad mounted to the upper die cam slide forholding an outer portion of the flange surface of the panelcorresponding to the lower holding pad.

The lower holding pad and the upper holding pad may be mounted to thelower die cam base and the upper die cam slide respectively interposinga pad cushion spring between the lower holding pad and the lower die cambase, and between the upper holding pad and the upper die cam slide forsupplying elastic force to the lower holding pad and the upper holdingpad respectively.

The holding unit may hold the flange surface during the press forming ofthe panel for the panel to be stretched formed.

An insert portion may be formed to the lower die cam base, and the camsteel may be inserted into the insert portion for a panel to bestretched formed in press forming.

A press apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may prevent from forming wrinkle to a panel of a vehicle bodyby implementing tensile press forming to the panel with deep depthforming such as a roof side panel.

A press apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may improve productivity and reduce inferiority rate.

A press apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may enhance attractive appearance of a vehicle, weldingquality and mounting quality of elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a press apparatus according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing operations of the pressapparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing steps of pressing a panel by thepress apparatus of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments maybe modified in various different ways, all without departing from thespirit or scope of the present invention. Parts which are not associatedwith the description are omitted in order to specifically describe thepresent invention, and like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout the specification.

In addition, parts that are irrelevant to the description are omitted toclearly describe the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, andlike reference numerals designate like elements throughout thespecification, which also applies to the related art. The size andthickness of each component illustrated in the drawings are arbitrarilyshown for understanding and ease of description, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. Thicknesses of several portions andregions are enlarged for clear expressions.

In addition, “unit”, “means”, “part”, “member”, or the like, which isdescribed in the specification, means a unit of a comprehensiveconfiguration that performs at least one function or operation.

It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similarterm as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such aspassenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses,trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety ofboats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles,electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-poweredvehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived fromresources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicleis a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example bothgasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items.

Further, the control logic of the present invention may be embodied asnon-transitory computer readable media on a computer readable mediumcontaining executable program instructions executed by a processor,controller or the like. Examples of computer readable media include, butare not limited to, ROM, RAM, compact disc (CD)-ROMs, magnetic tapes,floppy disks, flash drives, smart cards and optical data storagedevices. The computer readable medium can also be distributed in networkcoupled computer systems so that the computer readable media is storedand executed in a distributed fashion, e.g., by a telematics server or aController Area Network (CAN).

FIG. 1 depicts a press apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a press apparatus according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may prevent wrinkles from beingformed on a flange surface F of a panel P of a vehicle body byimplementing tensile press forming to a panel with deep depth formingsuch as a roof side panel, improve productivity and reduce inferiorityrate.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a lower die 1 isdisposed, and an upper die 3 is movable up and down over the lower die1, and the panel P is inserted between the lower die 1 and the upper die3 to be pressed.

The press apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may include a lower die cam base 5, a connecting block 7, alower die pad 9, a lower die driver 11, an upper die pad 13, a cam guideblock 15, an upper die cam slide 17, a cam driver 23, and a holding unit30.

The lower die cam base 5 is slidably disposed within the lower die 1,and has a forming shape corresponding to a lower surface of a lowerportion of the panel P.

The connecting block 7 contacts the lower die cam base 5 and is slidablydisposed within the lower die 1.

The lower die pad 9 connects upper portions of the lower die cam base 5and the connecting block 7 and has a forming shape corresponding to alower surface of an upper portion of the panel P.

Wear plates 2 may be disposed between the lower die 1 and the lower diecam base 5, and between the lower die 1 and the connecting block 7,respectively.

The wear plate 2 may allow the lower die cam base 5 and the connectingblock 7 to move on the lower die 1 smoothly.

The lower die driver 11 is mounted under the upper die 3 and contactsthe connecting block 7 through a driving surface 12 formed thereto.

A contacting surface 8 is formed to the connecting block 7 correspondingto the driving surface 12 of the lower die driver 11.

When the upper die 3 moves down, the lower die driver 11 contacts thecontacting surface 8 of the connecting block 7 through the drivingsurface 12 and pushes the connecting block 7 and the lower die cam base5 toward the upper die cam slide 17.

At a portion of the lower die 1 where the lower die cam base 5 isdisposed thereto, a lower die cam base surface 4 slants toward the upperdie cam slide 17.

The upper die pad 13 is mounted under the upper die 3 through a cushionspring 14 at a position corresponding to the lower die pad 9 and has aforming shape corresponding to an upper surface of an upper portion ofthe panel P.

The cam guide block 15 is formed to the lower die 1 apart from the lowerdie cam base 5 and a cam guide surface slants to the lower die cam base5.

The upper die cam slide 17 has a cam slide surface 18 corresponding tothe cam guide surface 16 of the cam guide block 15, a cam surface 19slants in an opposite direction of the cam slide surface 18.

A cam steel 21 preferably is mounted to the upper die cam slide 17toward the lower die cam base 5.

The cam driver 23 is mounted under the upper die 3, and a cam drivingsurface 24 corresponding to the cam surface 19 of the upper die camslide 17 is formed to the cam driver 23.

The holding unit 30 is mounted to the lower die cam base 5 and the upperdie cam slide 17 for holding the flange surface F of the panel P duringpress forming.

The holding unit 30 may maintain a holding state of the flange surface Fduring press forming using the lower die cam base 5 and the upper diecam slide 17 so that the panel P may be stretched formed in pressforming.

The holding unit 30 includes a lower holding pad 31 mounted to the lowerdie cam base 5 for holding an inner portion of the flange surface F ofthe panel P and an upper holding pad 33 mounted to the upper die camslide 17 for holding an outer portion of the flange surface F of thepanel P corresponding to the lower holding pad 31.

The lower holding pad 31 and the upper holding pad 33 are mounted to thelower die cam base 5 and the upper die cam slide 17, respectively,interposing a pad cushion spring 35 between the lower holding pad 31 andthe lower die cam base 5, and between the upper holding pad 33 and theupper die cam slide 17 for supplying elastic force to the lower holdingpad 31 and the upper holding pad 33, respectively.

An insert portion 6 is formed to the lower die cam base 5, and the camsteel 21 is inserted into the insert portion 6 for the panel P to bestretched formed in press forming.

Hereinafter, operations of the press apparatus according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention will be discussed.

FIG. 2 depicts operations of the press apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3shows a pressed panel being formed by the press apparatus of FIG. 1.

In the state that the panel P is interposed between the lower die cambase 5 and the lower die pad 9, the upper die 3 moves down as shown inS1 of FIG. 2, the lower die driver 11 moves down together with the upperdie 3, and the driving surface 12 contacts the contacting surface 8 ofthe connecting block 7. Then, the driving surface 12 pushes thecontacting surface 8 so as to move the connecting block 7 and the lowerdie cam base 5 toward the upper die cam slide 17.

In this state, the upper die pad 13 pushes the lower die pad 9 and iselastically supported by the cushion spring 14 to press the upperportion of the panel P having a forming depth that is relatively notdeep together with the lower die pad 9.

The upper die 3 keeps going down as shown in S2 of FIG. 2, and then thecam driving surface of the cam driver 23 pushes the cam surface 19 ofthe upper die cam slide 17.

At the state that the cam slide surface 18 of the upper die cam slide 17contacts the cam guide surface 16 of the cam guide block 15, the upperdie cam slide 17 slides toward the lower die cam base 5 on the cam guidesurface 16 during downward movement of the cam driver 23.

In this state, the lower holding pad 31 of the holding unit 30 contactsan inner side of the flange surface F of the panel P and the upperholding pad 33 of the holding unit 30 contacts an outer side of theflange surface F of the panel P to hold the flange surface F.

Each pad cushion spring 35 supplies elastic force to the lower holdingpad 31 and the upper holding pad 33 for the flange surface F of thepanel P not to be separated from the holding unit 30.

In particular, before press forming using the cam steel 21, the holdingunit 30 holds the flange surface F of the panel P. Then, the upper diecam slide 17 presses the lower portion of the panel P with deep formingdepth through the cam steel 21.

As shown in S10 to S40 of FIG. 3, at the state that the holding unit 30holds the flange surface F of the panel P, the cam steel 21 is insertedtoward the insert portion 6 to push the panel P and the holding unit 30moves together with the cam steel 21.

In particular, the holding unit 30 holding the flange surface F of thepanel P moves along the moving direction of the cam steel 21 for examplebefore about 10 mm of the end of the press forming. Thus, while the camsteel 21 is inserted into the insert portion 6 of the lower die cam base5, the panel P is stretched formed in press forming to prevent fromforming wrinkles.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thepress apparatus may prevent from forming wrinkles on the flange surfaceF of the panel P of a vehicle body by implementing tensile press formingto a panel with deep depth forming such as a panorama sunroof. The pressapparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventionmay improve productivity and reduce inferiority rate.

Also, the press apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention may enhance attractive appearance of a vehicle,welding quality and mounting quality of elements.

While this invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A press apparatus, comprising: a lower die cambase slidably disposed inside of a lower die, wherein a lower die pad isconnected to an upper portion of the lower die cam base; an upper diepad mounted under an upper die through a cushion spring at a positioncorresponding to the lower die pad; and an upper die cam slide having acam slide surface formed at a lower portion thereof, a cam surfaceformed at an upper portion thereof, and a cam steel mounted thereto. 2.The press apparatus of claim 1, the press apparatus further comprises aholding unit mounted to the lower die cam base and the upper die camslide for holding a flange surface of a panel during press forming. 3.The press apparatus of claim 1, wherein the holding unit comprises: alower holding pad mounted to the lower die cam base for holding an innerportion of the flange surface of the panel; and an upper holding padmounted to the upper die cam slide for holding an outer portion of theflange surface of the panel corresponding to the lower holding pad. 4.The press apparatus of claim 3, wherein the lower holding pad and theupper holding pad are mounted to the lower die cam base and the upperdie cam slide, respectively, interposing a pad cushion spring betweenthe lower holding pad and the lower die cam base, and between the upperholding pad and the upper die cam slide for supplying elastic force tothe lower holding pad and the upper holding pad, respectively.
 5. Thepress apparatus of claim 1, wherein the holding unit holds the flangesurface during press forming of the panel for the panel to be stretchedformed.
 6. The press apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: aconnecting block contacting the lower die cam base and slidable withinthe lower die; and a lower die driver mounted under the upper die, andthe lower die driver pushing the lower die cam base through theconnecting block when the upper die moves down.
 7. The press apparatusof claim 6, wherein a driving surface is formed to the lower die driverfor pushing the connecting block.
 8. The press apparatus of claim 7,wherein a contacting surface is formed to the connecting blockcontacting the driving surface of the lower die driver.
 9. The pressapparatus of claim 6, further comprising wear plates interposed betweenthe lower die and the connecting block and between the lower die and thelower die cam base, respectively.
 10. The press apparatus of claim 6,wherein the lower die driver pushes the lower die cam base through theconnecting block to move the lower die cam base toward the upper die camslide when the upper die moves down.
 11. The press apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: a cam guide block formed apart from the lower diecam base and including a cam guide surface that slants toward the lowerdie cam base; and a cam driver including a cam driving surface thatslants in an opposite direction of the cam guide surface and mountedunder the upper die.
 12. The press apparatus of claim 1, wherein: aninsert portion is formed to the lower die cam base; and the cam steel isinserted into the insert portion for a panel to be stretched formed inpress forming.
 13. A press apparatus for press forming a panel insertedinto an upper die and a lower die, the press apparatus comprising: alower die cam base slidably disposed inside of a lower die and having aforming shape corresponding to a lower surface of a lower portion of thepanel to be formed; a connecting block contacting the lower die cam baseand slidably disposed within the lower die; a lower die pad connectingupper portions of the lower die cam base and the connecting block andhaving a forming shape corresponding to a lower surface of an upperportion of the panel to be formed; a lower die driver mounted under theupper die to selectively push the lower die cam base through theconnecting block; an upper die pad mounted under the upper die through acushion spring at a position corresponding to the lower die pad andhaving a forming shape corresponding to an upper surface of an upperportion of the panel to be formed; a cam guide block formed to the lowerdie apart from the lower die cam base and having a cam guide surfacethat slants to the lower die cam base; an upper die cam slide having acam slide surface corresponding to the cam guide surface of the camguide block, a cam surface slant opposite direction of the cam slidesurface, and the upper die cam slide having a cam steel mounted towardthe lower die cam base thereto; a holding unit mounted to the lower diecam base and the upper die cam slide for holding a flange surface of thepanel during press forming.
 14. The press apparatus of claim 13, whereinthe holding unit comprises: a lower holding pad mounted to the lower diecam base for holding an inner portion of the flange surface of thepanel; and an upper holding pad mounted to the upper die cam slide forholding an outer portion of the flange surface of the panelcorresponding to the lower holding pad.
 15. The press apparatus of claim14, wherein the lower holding pad and the upper holding pad are mountedto the lower die cam base and the upper die cam slide, respectively,interposing a pad cushion spring between the lower holding pad and thelower die cam base, and between the upper holding pad and the upper diecam slide for supplying elastic force to the lower holding pad and theupper holding pad, respectively.
 16. The press apparatus of claim 13,wherein the holding unit holds the flange surface during the pressforming of the panel for the panel to be stretched formed.
 17. The pressapparatus of claim 13, wherein: an insert portion is formed to the lowerdie cam base; and the cam steel is inserted into the insert portion fora panel to be stretched formed in press forming.